Midnight Training
by TakahashiYuri
Summary: Not bad, but your hand to hand combat sucks," rumbled a deep voice which bounced off the walls of the otherwise empty room. Clary instinctually threw another knife in the direction the voice came from. There was some quiet swearing and then she heard the sharp clink of her knife being removed from the wall. Her surprise guest took a few steps into the light.


The moon's light soflty illuminated the training room in the Institute and a sweating Clary with a furious look on her face. It was midnight - or at least it was the last time she checked- and Clary decided it was time to change Alec's mind about her being a burden. Because that was all he ever saw in her - a girl who wasn't raised in their shadow world but as a mundane. So in his eyes she had no place among them.

Izzy told her she was doing just fine, really good, despite her lack of knowledge about martial arts or runes. So she trained her and taught her about different kinds of angelic symbols. That was just Izzy - perfect in everything. Clary found a new friend and that was the most important thing because sometimes all you needed is to talk to someone who will listen.

And then there was Jace. Jace, who was head over heels with himself and constantly cracked jokes like, 'Such a shame to deny all of this', while gesturing to his body. It was laughable... the first five times. The only reaction he recieved from Clary these days were rolled eyes. So he tried another way to get along with her - he started to train her too, to get along with her, though it soon proved fruitless as he trained with swords and knives and she wasn't up to that level yet.

People noticed how quickly she had caught on - even Maryse had seen her potential and improvement and told her as much in that stoic way of hers.

Clarissa Fairchild was for the first time in her life really proud, though it didn't last long. Actually, it lasted for twenty-three minutes, until Alec showed up after her first part of training and opened his mouth.

 _"You'll never be one of us, deal with it."_

It was kind of a shitty moment and Clary was used to his jerk side, but knowing he would never accept her as a worthy shadowhunter was something completely different. Everyone saw how much shewas trying to blend in, practise in every free moment she had and no one spoke a negative word about it. No one complained. Only Alec seemed to have an aversion to her. Always highlighting the bad, not caring about the good. He continually pointed out her flaws and made no reference to the progress she was making. Not that he would know what progress she made as he avoided training her like demon pox.

And that was the reason why Clary was out of bed almost every night. Because Alec Lightwood was the biggest asshole in the world and she was determined to change his mind. With him around she felt defenseless, and she didn't like it at all.

"Focus, Fairchild, focus!" she mumbled to herself as she mumbled to herself, picking up another knife and throwing it. She had become really good with throwing knives if she did say so herself. They were good for long distance, but she knew they wouldn't cut it up close and personal.

"Not bad, but your hand to hand combat sucks," rumbled a deep voice which bounced off the walls of the otherwise empty room. Clary instinctually threw another knife in the direction the voice came from. There was some quiet swearing and then she heard the sharp _clink_ of her knife being removed from the wall. Her surprise guest took a few steps into the light.

"What are you doing here?" Clary almost barked at him with a frown. She thought she had some peace and quiet for once.

"You could have killed me, you know?"

"Yeah, because I am _so_ skilled I could kill someone like you, right? At least, that's what you're always telling me, and I really don't need that crap right now." There was something about his fucking eyes! They pierced through her so easy, like he could see into her mind. Clary tried to steel her resolve against the invasive gaze but the owner of the icy blue eyes just smirked at her her.

"Look. I'm not underestimating you; I'm just trying to motivate you."

What came out of Clary's mouth couldn't be described as a laugh. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Motivate me? That's bullshit!" She was so angry, mostly because he was so calm like nothing could touch him. Alec stood there, unaffected, casually perched against the wall and toyed with the sharp end of her throwing knife.

"If I told you how good you are, you could rest on your laurels. You could lose your focus and no one can afford that. Not now. And look where you got just because one of us was a jerk to you."

Clary's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hair, she couldn't believe her ears. "Thanks to- Are you even- Fuck!" She was panting, her fingers angrily clenched around the knife's handle. "You know what? I am where I am thanks to Izzy and Jace because _they_ , unlike you, bothered with someone like me and actually taught me something." _Keep breathing, Clary. Keep breathing._

"Fine. Grab a stave. If you kick my ass, then I'll apologize to you in front of whole Institute. If you lose, I will start training you, too." He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

Clary stared at him like he was some kind of magical creature - like he'd grown a horn and became a unicorn - and almost told him to fuck off because there was no way he was serious. Alec's face was telling different story, though. She couldn't read his thoughts but something had changed his mind and that was everything she wanted, right? Maybe it was her improvement, maybe he no longer felt like fighting a child. "Fine," she agreed after some quiet minutes of staring at each other. Walking towards the stands with weapons was just a matter of a few seconds and she did as she was told.

Clary felt shivers running under her skin and wondered why now? He could have done this a long time ago but he waited and showed up tonight. She slowly thought back on her nightly pattern - could have he known the whole time? She shook her head. _Of course not. That would mean he cares and care means emotions other than annoyance._ Clary took up a fighting stance and looked at Alec who still stood on the same spot, curiosity in his eyes. "C'mon! I don't have whole night. Girl's gotta sleep."

He blinked at her and then moved closer. She didn't notice when he grabbed the stave so his attack was a big surprise, but she managed. He was fast and unlike Izzy or Jace, he wasn't correcting her. When she ended up on the floor on her back for the first time, he let her stand up asking what she thought did she wrong. Their whole fight was for Clary to realize _what kinds_ of mistakes she made. Now, when her basic skills of fighting had improved and she _knew_ what to do, she understood why Alec hadn't wanted to fight her. Everything was new to her (she _was_ rased as a mundane) and even if she tried, few weeks ago she wouldn't have stood a chance against him.

Clary was panting, her muscles hurt from all the training, and she felt sweat running down between her shoulder blades making the fabric of her shirt stick to her skin. Alec, on the other hand looked quite pleased, his mirthful eyes never leaving her. He was sweating as well. But he wasn't out of breath or something. His dark hair fell into his face so he quickly ran his hand through it, smirking at Clary.

She attacked him and tried to wrench the weapon out of his hands, but instead she ended up without it and in an interesting turn of events, with her back pressed against Alec's chest, his stave blocking her arms. She felt his heart hammering in his chest, his hot breath on her neck. It was kind of comforting if only they weren't fighting. She tried to calm down but Alec lowered his head and whispered, " _How do you get out of this?"_

"I could throw you over my back or give you a head-butt," she whispered back. All her anger was gone long ago and Clary realized fights with Alec Lightwood were really good for her improvement.

"Good, so why don't you do it?"

Clary sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm tired. My body hurts and I don't want to break your nose when no one's around. They wouldn't believe me if I told them how it happened."

He let out a low chuckle and all the hair on her neck stood up when his hand slowly moved over her hip and up the left side of her neck so his long fingers could wrap around her throat.

"And how would you get out of this?" His hair tickled her temple and she heard how he breathed her in. "Imagine I'm holding a sword." His words ran down her spine and left her almost breathless.

"I-I don't know."

And suddenly there was no Alec behind her. She almost fell on her butt and immediately missed warmth of his body.

"That's enough for today. Good work, Clary." He picked her stave up and returned both weapons in stands, leaving Clary alone.

Only later that night, lying in bed she realized how weird Alec's voice was - like... like he had forced himself to remain calm. But maybe it was the tiredness in her which saw it that way.


End file.
